Michael Pressley

Researchers from a variety of disciplines have collected verbal protocols of reading as a window on conscious reading processes. Because such work has occurred in different disciplines, many who have conducted verbal protocol analyses have been unaware of the research of others. This volume brings together the existing literature from the various fields in which verbal protocols of reading have been generated. In so doing, the authors provide an organized catalog of all conscious verbal processes reported in studies to date -- the most complete analysis of conscious reading now available in the literature. When the results of all of the studies are considered, there is clear support for a number of models of reading comprehension including reader response theories, schema perspectives, executive processing models, and bottom-up approaches such as the one proposed by van Dijk and Kintsch. The summary of results also demonstrates that none of the existing models goes far enough. Thus, a new framework -- constructively responsive reading -- is described. This new model encompasses reader response, schematic and executive processing, and induction from word- and phrase-level comprehension to higher-order meaning. The important concept in this new model is that readers respond to bits and pieces of text as they are encountered, all as part of the overarching goal of constructing meaning from text. This volume also includes a critical review of the thinking aloud methodology as it has been used thus far. This examination suggests that it continues to be an immature methodology, and that much work is needed if a complete theory of conscious processing during reading is to be developed via verbal protocol analysis. Finally, after reviewing what has been accomplished to date, the authors provide extensive discussion of the work that remains to be done and

Theoretical foundtions: new directions for the future. Comprehension strtegies instruction: a turn-of-the-century sttus report. The case for direct ecplanation of strategies. Process-based comprehension instruction: perspectives of four reading educators. Implications of cognitive resource allocation for comprehension strategies instruction. Metacognition in comprehension instruction. Teahing reading self-assessment strategies. Brandching out and expanding our horizons in the 21 century: reading inweb-based learning environments. Using the theme scheme to improve story comprehension. Oh excellent, excellent question. Individual differences that influence reading comprehension. Teaching readers how to comprehend text strategically. Challenges of implementing transactional strategies instruction for reading comprehension. Comprehension instruction in preschool, primary and intermediate grades: Preparing young learners for successful reading comprehension. Building comprehension when they're still learning to read the words. Comprehension instruction in the primary grades. Beyond litearture circles. Instructional contexts for reading engagement. Children searching and using information text. Imagery: a strategy for enhancing comprehension. Intensification of comprehension instucation throughout middle school, high school and college: the argument schema and learning to reason. Straddling two worlds: self-directed comprehension instruction for middle schoolers. Improwing the reading comprehension of at-risk adolescents. Encouraging active reading at the college level. Summing up: what comprehension instruction could be.

Many important variables in behavioral development are presumed to be unrelated because of repeated failures to obtain substantial correlations. In this article, we explore the possibility that such null findings have often been due to failures to aggregate. The principle of aggregation states that the sum of a set of multiple measurements is a more stable and representative estimator than any single measurement. This greater representation occurs because there is inevitably some error associated with measurement. By combining numerous exemplars, such errors of measurement are averaged out, leaving a clearer view of underlying relationships. We illustrate the usefulness of this principle in 12 major areas of developmental research in which the issue of negligible correlations figures prominently: (a) the validity of judges' ratings, (b) the cross-situational consistency of moral character and personality, (c) the longitudinal stability of personality, (d) the coherence of stages of cognitive development, (e) metacognition, (f) the attitude—behavior relationship, (g) the personality—behavior relationship, (h) the role-taking/altruism relationship, (i) the moral-judgment/altruism relationship, (j) the legitimacy of the construct of attachment, (k) the existence of sex differences, and (1) the assessment of emotionality in animals. In a final section, we also discuss the implications of the principle of aggregation for conducting experimental research.

Contents: Preface. An Introduction to Protocol Analysis of Reading. Methods Employed to Construct a Summary of Conscious Processes During Skilled Reading. What Readers Can Do When They Read: A Summary of the Results from the On-Line Self-Report Studies of Reading. Text Processing in Light of Think-Aloud Analyses of Reading: Constructively Responsive Reading. The Future of Reading Protocol Analyses: Addressing Methodological Concerns in Order to Advance Conceptual Understanding.